Always One Foot on the Ground
by messington
Summary: When it comes to love, not everyone is willing to simply let go. Hurt from the past forms walls to keep others out, even when we know we should let that person in. ShuuRan, modern day AU.
1. Chapter 1

_This an AU that's been swimming in my head for over a year, and this first chapter took me a long time to get from my head and written. I have quite a story planned, so I hope that everyone can enjoy the trip. Also, the rating on this may or may not go up. There will be some slightly sexual content and mentions of sex.  
_

_Slight warning: Shuuhei/Rangiku is the main pairing in this story, but there will be little bits of Ichigo/Orihime (mostly just Orihime for reasons that will be obvious in this first chapter), Renji/Rukia, and maybe a little Kira/Momo. Most of these play a part in the setting of the story and not much else, but I did want to let this be known since not everyone likes those pairs. I hope even those that don't care for those pairings don't let them stop reading this story, because they're truly a minor part._

_Thanks to copperheadfightingninja for doing a little beta on this._

_**4/3 UPDATE:** added a few short paragraphs at the end, that I'd planned for the start of the second chapter. I felt that they worked best here, because it made the flow choppy in the next chapter. It kinda kills a lot of the suspense, but there's still a few mysteries left._

Bleach is property of Kubo Tite and Shueisha.

***

**Always One Foot on the Ground**  
chapter 1

The tie was going to be the end of him. Shuuhei walked out the meeting, yanking that the noose that he'd kept around his neck the whole morning to loosen it. The next thing he really needed to get off was the suit jacket, but that was going to have to wait until he got back to his office. He quickly walked back through a corridor of cubicles, amongst the sounds of phones ringing and keyboards clacking. Passing a few employees, they greeting him with an artificial cheer, careful not to let him see any signs of stress. That only made it more apparent, but it's not like the environment of monthly magazine with high circulation numbers exactly provided any downtime. He'd be more concerned if there wasn't a saccharine facade of cheer when his employees greeted him.

It's not like he felt any less stress than they did. Through some odd bout of luck, he was promoted to editor in chief, a position that was normally reserved for men nearly twice his age with bald heads and potbellies. Here he was, just 28, full head of hair, and definitely no potbelly. In all honesty, it wasn't just luck, but he didn't want to think of that right now. Having such an important position at such a young age was enough to keep him busy trying to prove that there really was some merit to the promotion.

His office was in the corner. His secretary, a young woman named Momo Hinamori, was out front, intently listening to whoever was on the other side of the line. With a slightly forced smile, he waved at his secretary and walked into his office, making sure the door was closed behind him. He stopped in the entry, peeled off his suit jacket and tossed it on the nearby sofa without a glance. It wasn't until he got to his desk that he noticed that his couch wasn't empty like it usually was. It was the glimpse of his friend's bright red ponytail out of the corner of his eye that made him realize he wasn't alone.

"Throwing your coat at a guest isn't going to make him leave," a familiar voice said, tossing Shuuhei's blazer to the empty side of the couch.

"Sorry about that, Renji. I didn't really see you there," he replied as a sunk down into his amazingly comfortable office chair. Heaving a sigh, he knew that he didn't really have the time to sit back and talk with his friend, but the distraction was certainly welcome. "So, what brings you here?"

"You mean besides the fact that no one outside this office has seen you for two weeks?"

"There's another reason why you're here. A short, violet-eyed, black-haired, occasionally aggressive reason." By looking at the expression on Renji's face, he could tell that he'd hit the mark. "What gives, why are you in my office instead of hers?"

"She kicked me out of her office," Renji mumbled back.

"It is the time of the month when she gets busy, so that doesn't surprise me. Plus, she does love to push your buttons," he playfully added. His friend shot back at him with an unappreciative glare.

"Anyway," Renji said in a drawn out matter, clearly trying to change the subject. "I did honestly have a reason to come here and see you, and that is to remind you about this Saturday."

"Last time I checked, I'm busy, not forgetful. I'm also not a jerk. Just because I don't care to go to weddings, doesn't mean that I won't go at all. Ichigo is a contributing writer, and I do know him outside of work as well since you two are pretty good friends. Of course I'm going to make sure I show up. Plus, to be honest, it's really something that I'm going to have to see to believe."

"Is there anyone you're going to bring with you?" Renji asked after chuckling at his friend's last statement. The response he got was a simple head shake. "No Yuura?"

"I broke it off with Yuura about a week ago," Shuuhei casually replied.

Renji had to keep himself from looking too disappointed. There had been high hopes amongst their friends that maybe this one would stick around for more than a few weeks. Then again, they've been having that same kind of hope for the past few girls. "Before you start in on me, it just wasn't there with her."

"I know, I know. It's never there with any girl, is it? You're still not over–"

"Renji," Shuuhei snapped just before the other man could even mutter that name. "Let's not talk about this here," he replied with forced smile.

"Okay," Renji replied taking special note of look distress hiding behind the smile on his dark-haired friend's face. "I should get going anyway. You've got all your work to do, and I should probably go, get lunch, and head back to my job before Kuchiki-shachou notices how long I've been gone. I guess I'll see you this weekend."

Walking out of the office, Renji couldn't help but let out a long sigh. Even after just over a year, talk about her was still off limits.

"So did you remind him?" a familiar voice asked, startling him out of his thoughts. He looked over to Momo's desk to see the very woman who'd so violently shooed him away from her minutes ago was waiting for him now.

"I thought you were busy, Rukia," he grumbled. She didn't bother even attempting to answer and instead stared at him, waiting for an answer. Not wanting to talk about this right outside of Shuuhei's office, he took Rukia by the arm, ignoring her protests, and lead to the nearest open and vacant area, a nearby empty cubicle.

"You didn't need to pull me so hard," Rukia angrily replied, yanking her arm back.

"I didn't want to talk about this right outside his office, and you were the one looking like you wanted an answer right away. Yes, I reminded him. He's coming, and he's going to be alone."

"I told you it wasn't going to last with, what's her face," Rukia boasted.

"Yuura. He's definitely still not over her at all. But is it really going to be okay for him to be there alone when she's going to be there? I don't think seeing her going will bring him closure."

"It probably wouldn't have made a difference. You've seen yourself how hung up on her he still is. Having his third rebound girlfriend around probably wasn't going to make a difference. It may even be better this way."

"I hope so," Renji softly replied, a concerned look upon his face. Rukia stifled a giggle when she saw Renji's expression. Despite his usually rough exterior, she'd always known that he was a very caring man, especially when it came to his friends. However, sometimes even she couldn't help but giggle when he was like that. He, of course, wasn't too thrilled when she reacted that way. "Hey, don't laugh at me because I'm worried about my friend. There's a lot of other women who'd think that was a good trait."

"It is a good trait. You just look funny when you say stuff like that. Especially with those eyebrows," she replied trying to hold back her giggles towards the end of her sentence. He didn't say anything in response, just pouted. "I swear, sometimes you're more sensitive than Ichigo. Come on, let's go get some lunch." Grumbling just a little, Renji acquiesced, trying to hide his excitement that he'd be spending his lunch with her instead of sitting behind his desk, eating take out.

The week had quickly passed just as it usually did, and Shuuhei found himself in his most formal suit, standing in the middle of a garden in a nearby suburb, waiting to be seated while string quartet softly filled the air along with the soft aroma of the blooming flowers. He didn't know Orihime well, but he had a hard time thinking that this setting was indeed her idea. A garden wedding with a string quartet didn't seem like something that a modest girl like Orihime would hope for. He sighed, happy that at least he could enjoy the beautiful day now. Being in this garden on such a beautiful day was much better than either cooped up in his apartment or as one of the millions of pedestrians on the streets of Tokyo as he ran errands that had been piling up during the week.

When he was eventually seated, much to his chagrin, the usher had placed him next to the aisle. He just wanted a seat in the back, somewhere in the middle of the row. That way he was there, but he could just be another person in the audience. Instead, he was placed in the thick of it, checking his watch, waiting for some people to start walking down that damn aisle. He looked up to see Momo and Kira looking back at him from two rows in front of him; Momo was smiling and waving. He managed a quick smirk. Seeing the two together was an event in its self since he'd picked up on Kira's crush years ago. His thoughts, however, were quickly interrupted by the shift in music that signified the processional commencing.

The first person to walk to the alter was the orange-haired man himself, alone. He walked to his mark and turned to watch the rest of the procession follow. Shuuhei turned to see the first members of the wedding party walk through the arch, the couple's school friends Chad and Tatsuki, if he was remembering correctly. After them came Rukia and Renji. As they took their places Shuuhei turned back again to see a very familiar figure walk out of the archway, arm and arm with a very happy young man with somewhat scruffy chin-length brown hair, not that he paid much attention to the guy next to her.

Rangiku, he thought trying his hardest to not look so shocked.

The sight of her made his heart race to the point where he could practically hear the thumping in his head. His mouth dried and his palms became moist with sweat. It was like seeing a ghost.

As she passed him, those beautiful light blue eyes of hers focused directly on him, and she offered a soft smile. He tried desperately to look like everything was normal and okay, but he knew that he was likely failing at that.

From then on, he had a hard time keeping his eyes off of her. Even as Orihime was escorted down the aisle to hushed whispers of how unbelievably beautiful she looked, he couldn't help but steal glances at the voluptuous form of the blond woman he'd fallen in love with just over a year ago. She was captivating. Her long, wavy blonde hair was loosely tied up and adorned with a few daisies, just like the other girls. Even though the petal pink dress suited Orihime's more modest taste, her amazing figure was still very apparent as the fabric still hugged her perfect curves.

He had to laugh at himself a little for getting so wrapped up in just looking at her. After consistently defending to his friends that he wasn't just interested in her assets, he found himself most interested in just simply looking at her standing so close by.

He hadn't seen her in a year. At least, he hadn't seen her in person. Since parting ways, Rangiku had gone on pursue that acting career she dreamed of as a girl. She'd, however, recently gotten her start in modeling, gravure modeling to be more precise. In recent months, she'd become quite successful, to the point of making it hard for him to escape her image. When he walked along a news stand, looking to see his magazine and how well it was selling, he'd often come across her dressed in anything from a skimpy designer outfit to a bikini on a cover of a magazine.

Then there was a cover shot of her wearing a white fur coat that was worn open to reveal the black bikini and fishnet thigh-highs underneath, which became practically iconic in the last two months. Slowly but surely, she was becoming a household name, famous for launching a million masturbatory fantasies of pubescent boys, grown men, and maybe even a few women. She started to turn up on the TV a little while later. At first, she'd just appear in a few segments in a prime time talk show, but her screen time had recently been increasing due to her outgoing personality. Sometimes he wondered if his inability to get over her was because he saw her on at least a weekly, if not daily, basis in some form of media.

No, he corrected himself. It was never just that.

He knew he shouldn't think like that for much longer. Taking a deep breath, he stole his attention away from the blond to focus on the couple getting married. For once, he was trying with all his might to truly pay attention to the ceremony. It was a much needed distraction. Though trying to distract himself from thoughts about their past with the scene of a happy couple getting married was probably not the best way to get his mind off the idea of romance and relationships. He could feel of soft jab in his chest as the two stumbled through their self-written vows. Ichigo was almost in tears, something Shuuhei would never have imagined to see from the usually fierce-looking young man.

The newly married couple sealed their vows with a kiss, and he tried his best not to think about kissing her again. That would be his one way ticket back to the completely depressed state he was in when she first left. It was the last thing he wanted her to see. Steeling his nerves as best he could, he watched as the newlyweds eagerly walked back down the aisle and past the guests. They were, of course, followed by the rest of the wedding party, and awkwardly, he kept his glance on anything but Rangiku as she passed him once again. As the rest of the party passed, and the first rows of people were funneling back, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He really wasn't ready for any of this.

Trouble again arose for Shuuhei as the wedding party was in the large meeting space behind the seated guests, waiting for people to come funneling through with their congratulations. He wondered if there was a way out or at least to the front of the line. Missing the time to congratulate the two felt rude, but he didn't want to be forced into facing Rangiku, even for those few short moments. Waiting for the rows in front of him to be dismissed, he saw his opportunity come when Kira and Momo were walking past him, exchanging a few words. Hopefully, by the time he was dismissed, they would have passed Rangiku.

He nervously waited for his chance to leave and slowly crept forwards in line, holding his breath as he got closer to Rangiku. At least, he wasn't sure if he was breathing. Thankfully, Momo and Kira were just finishing saying a few words to her, and by the time he caught up with them they were just about to talk to the newly married couple. Shuuhei could have sworn he saw Momo looking back at Rangiku with a shake of her head as he walked up to her, but he was too focused on avoiding eye contact with the blonde that he only saw it out of the corner of his eyes. Instead he focused on congratulating the couple in front of him, tell him how happy he was for them, let them know that he did actually make it, and just smile, smile, smile. Everything was okay. He was okay. That was, at least, the message he wanted to portray, but he knew he was never a very good actor.

Shuuhei had congratulated himself for making it through the ceremony after seeing that Rangiku was in the wedding as he chatted with coworkers also in attendance. It didn't completely occur to him until he saw people filing into a nearby tent that he had a whole reception to sit through. As funny as the prospect of seeing Ichigo or, heaven forbid, Renji dancing was promising, he wasn't exactly sure if he could make it through the whole night avoiding her. He hoped that there would be alcohol at this thing. He'd even settle for a cash-only bar.

He hadn't really noticed that the wedding was really quite small until they'd all gotten under the tent and sat at their assigned table. He was with all the co-workers, happily on the very edge of the arrangement. Maybe if he just sat here all night, he'd avoid her. She was, more often than not, the life of the party and not someone to bother herself too much with the wallflowers. Though if there was a bar that he was going to frequent, and he thought he saw one, then it would more than likely be inevitable to run into her.

The start of the reception had gone well for him. They all sat down, waiting for the wedding party to enter, which they soon did, to great fanfare. As everyone at the head table settled in, it was time for the speeches. Ichigo's father, in particular gave a rather emotional yet quite odd speech, garnering many an uncomfortable laugh. He also looked as if he was going to give Ichigo a stroke by the way he was talking about his new daughter. Pretty much everything that followed paled in comparison to the scene that the elder Kurosaki had made. That was, of course, until Rangiku stood up for her speech, but Shuuhei was pretty certain that he had a definite bias concerning that.

It had been a long time since he'd last heard her voice in person. No matter how good his TV stereo was, her talk show appearances never quite made up for the real thing. The warmth he remembered that had been missing when seeing her in broadcast form was there. Her melodious chuckle was immeasurably better in person than it was through a speaker. That was not to mention the content of her speech its self, where she was accounting her past as surrogate older sister for Orihime and had nudged the young girl into making the first step with the prickly young man. She went on to say how rewarding this day was to her to see the young girl so happy. Hearing that was what reminded him of the woman he'd fallen so hard for, not just the physical package, or the brazen confidence, but the one that so deeply cared for Orihime and looked out for the younger girl as if they really were bonded by blood. As that thought crossed his mind, he tried his best to put it back in the recesses where it belonged.

The speeches were over, and now all he had left to sit through was the food and a few dances, which would be when he would get a few drinks. Then it would be time to make the long train ride home, alone. He could make an excuse and leave early, couldn't he?

As the night wore on, he'd been too busy watching the group of people out dancing the night away and counting down the time until he could make a respectful departure to notice that there was someone missing from that crowd.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you've been trying to avoid me," Rangiku said after sitting down next to him, a glass of wine in hand. He stumbled a bit, trying to make it seem as if her weren't surprised by her sneak attack.

"Maybe, but only a little," he said in an attempt to be lighthearted, adding a soft laugh to emphasize that point. "I wasn't really expecting to see you here, so I'm still a little unsure of what to do."

"I'm sorry about that. I told Rukia, Renji, and Ichigo not to tell you if they saw you. I didn't want my being here to be the reason that you'd decide not to come."

"I should have figured it out. I know how close you are to Orihime, so it really should have been obvious. But either way, I still would have come, Rangiku," he replied looking her straight in the eye.

The complete sincerity in his stare had taken her by surprise. It probably shouldn't have. She'd always found his earnest nature to be incredibly endearing, and it was one of the things that had drawn her to him in the first place. In her experience with men, they always seemed to have some kind of agenda when it came to her. They always wanted something different from what they said they wanted. Still, she was surprised that part of him still remained. With everything that she'd done to him, a part of her had wondered if she broken that part of him. That fact that it seemed she hadn't didn't helped matters as much as she'd thought it would.

"Well then, I guess I should have let them tell you."

"Or you could have told me yourself," he quickly cut in.

"Shuuhei, please, don't do this here," she replied in an uncharacteristically sheepish manner. "Just let me enjoy this day without having to talk about this. Please?" she asked with a pleading look.

"Yeah, sure," he quietly agreed.

There was an unusual awkward silence between them now. Other than confronting her about her prolonged distance from him, there wasn't much Shuuhei could even think to say. He figured that she must have felt somewhat the same as well.

"So, I heard they made you editor in chief," she said after taking a sip from her glass of wine, eager to break the lingering silence.

"They did. It was something about wanting someone young and fresh, instead of someone with more experience leading people and managing a publication. I still sit in that office and wonder how the hell I got there sometimes." There he went again with his unnecessary honesty.

"I know you love it. You've always had such a passion for that magazine, and I bet you sit in that office sometimes and grin like a madman."

"I do love it," he stated plainly. "I just never thought I'd get where I wanted so soon in life, at least with my career." She flashed him a sweet smile after his admission, but she could feel that it was getting a little too serious. Today was a day to have fun, not have serious life discussion with an ex-lover. She took her last sip of wine, finishing the glass, and glanced over his shoulder to the dance floor.

"Wanna dance?"

"Huh?"

"I asked you if you wanted to dance. It's a pretty simple question," she replied with a chuckle.

"I, um." It was a strange question for her to ask. He was trying to avoid any kind of action that would remind him of the good old days. Dancing with her would mean being close to her, and he wasn't sure if he really wanted to do that. It was for his own sake, really. If people already thought he was still attached before today, this little temptation wasn't going to do him much good.

To hell with them. To hell with the potential for this to make him more attached. Her hooks had been in him for a long time, and one little dance wasn't going to make a difference. "Sure."

In an instant, she had him by the wrist and lead him to the dance floor. Once they'd suitably gotten into the crowd, she turned back to him with the smile.

But luck just wouldn't shine down on Shuuhei, not today. Within seconds of their reaching the dance floor, the fast paced song that had been playing wound down, and a ballad started up in its place. He sighed as the confidence he'd built up to just say the hell with it had crumbled. He was certainly caught at an impasse. He didn't want to go running from the dance floor, but a slow dance was definitely not what he wanted either. A quick dance where they didn't have to touch the entire time would be fine by him. He stood there, confused about what to do next, when the settling of her hand on his shoulder drew his attention to her.

"Stop acting like I'm going to eat you if I get too close. It's just a dance."

"Yeah, just a dance," he anemically replied. He raised his left hand for her take as he placed his right on her hip.

As they started dancing Rangiku could feel a notable rigidity to his movements. They'd danced like this before and never had he been so stiff. It almost felt like he was trying to dance like he would with his mother. She did say that it was just a dance, but that didn't mean that she wanted to be like this. She curled her hand around, so she was gripping his shoulder from behind, which pushed her closer. Now, they were practically cheek to cheek. His hand, however, was still on her hip, not pushing her back, but not wrapping around her either.

Being so close to him, she could easily smell the earthy scent of his cologne, the one he always wore. That scent must have somehow magically transformed on him, because she'd found it one day in a department store and tested it out to discover that it smelled nothing like him. It also reminded her of all the wonderful times they shared. She felt a little nostalgia for those days, and it made her want to talk to him a little more.

"Aside from avoiding me, are you enjoying yourself today?" she asked, still cheek to cheek with him.

"You really planned this thing out well."

"What makes you think I was the one who planned this?" she asked, an innocent giggle tickling her voice.

"Come on, I don't know Orihime-san all that well, but once I saw you walking down the aisle, the garden wedding and string quartet made much more sense."

"You got me there. The girl didn't know what she wanted, so I offered some help since I have a much better flare for style."

"Offered to help, or took over the planning?"

"If I took over completely, the bridesmaid dresses would be a lot sexier."

"That's true," he replied with a slight laugh. "But she did a good job picking that dress out. You really look nice."

"So do you. I like the longer hair."

"That's not intentional. I just get so busy that getting a haircut is the last thing on my mind."

"It's good to see that you're still so annoyingly humble, and I say that in a good way, Shuu."

It was at the moment that Shuuhei wished that the chorus to the song was repeating for the last time. He was reluctant in this dancing business, and the last thing he needed at this point was for her to start using her old nickname for him. She said she didn't want to get into any kind of talk about their relationship, yet she was calling him Shuu. That was a name she used when they were alone. It was what she moaned as she came, and she uses it now? In his first bout of good luck for the evening, the song ended not long after her comment. He gently released her hand and backed away from her.

She felt the urge to go after him, but she couldn't get herself to walk after him. She just stood there as a dozen or so people danced around her as he walked towards Ichigo and Orihime, who were both walking from table to table, talking to their guests. It was at this time, Ichigo's loud friend Keigo danced her way vaguely she heard him call her name. It took a few times for her attention to snap back.

"Matsumoto-san, I was asking if you wanted to dance," he scruffy-haired young man said in the most dashing voice he could muster. He'd been putting the moves on her for the past week, and she'd been entertaining herself by rejecting him to see how dramatic a reaction she could get.

"Okay," she said, masking anything negative she'd been feeling. Having her fun with the obviously smitten Keigo would be a good distraction, not that she really needed it. She'd become quite the actress over the years.

For Shuuhei, not looking back took everything he could muster.

"Ah, Hisagi-san!" Orihime cheerfully greeted as she saw him approach. Ichigo turned from the table of people in front of him to face his boss.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to congratulate you two before I left. Today is a great day for beginnings, and I know you guys will be happy for years to come."

"Thank you very much, Hisagi-san, but you should stay around a little bit longer. We're cutting the cake soon. It's chocolate, and I know you have as much a weakness for it as Ichigo-kun does."

"I would love to, Orihime-san, but I have a good deal of work waiting for me at home that needs to be done by Monday."

"That's fine, Hisagi," Ichigo replied before his new wife could say anything else. He knew why she was trying to stall him but wasn't about to try and meddle in his boss's relationship issues. "We're just glad you came."

"I wouldn't be a very good boss if I didn't come. You guys enjoy the rest of the party and your honeymoon. I'll see you when you get back, and we'll talk about your next feature, Kurosaki," Shuuhei said, holding out his hand.

"Thanks, man," Ichigo said as he shook the older man's hand. As he let go, Orihime blind-sided him with a brief hug. After releasing him, Shuuhei said his final goodbyes and casually walked out of the tent.

"I really like Hisagi-san," Orihime said as she watched him leave. She could feel Ichigo's glare as soon as she said those words. "I mean, he's a really nice person," she continued with a laugh, easily picking up on her husband's mild jealousy. "He's really good for Rangiku-nee, too. Maybe seeing each other today will help them change their minds. They looked so nice dancing together."

Ichigo smiled at his wife. Even at their wedding she was still worrying about everyone else's happiness.

"Come on, Orihime," he said taking her hand and giving it a soft squeeze. "Let's go cut some cake."

It had been two weeks since the wedding, and everything was just as it was before that night, not that he really expected there to be any change. There was just that little part of him that wished that Rangiku would call him soon after and tell her she'd made a big mistake. It was stupid of him to get his hopes up like that, and he knew it all along. That night at the wedding was just a little blip, and little chance given to a lovesick man. She wasn't going to come back.

Maybe it really was time to move on. At the rate he was going, he was probably going to spend his better years longing for a woman with whom he'd shared a handful of intense and passionate months. He wasn't getting Rangiku back, nor would he ever get a woman like her. It was far more likely that he was going to end up with the nothing of the all or nothing equation, and he just needed to make peace with that. There were still plenty of other women out there who were smart, beautiful, and confident. Going over this whole plan in his head, he made a mental note that maybe he should try and make up with Yuura. The woman was a very beautiful art critic for one of the nation's top newspapers. She might not have been Rangiku, but she certainly was a great woman in her own right.

His thoughts of the woman he'd recently brushed aside and what he could do to make things better were interrupted by a loud knocking at his door. Walking over to the entryway, he couldn't help but wonder who it was. Anyone who'd gotten to his door already knew the pass-code for the front door of his building. Anyone who that would more than likely have called before showing up, or, in the case of one person, had a key and would have just unlocked the door and walked in. Taking a glance through the peep-hole, he was shocked at who he saw. He quickly unlocked and flung open the door to make sure he wasn't seeing anything.

There stood Rangiku, looking quite elegant in a trench coat with a pair of black pants. A pair of sunglasses were pushed atop her head. He knew very well that this was her "spy look." She'd used it before when she dragged him along so they could spy on one of Ichigo and Orihime's dates. When he asked her why she was dressed like that the first time, she replied by saying it was just how female spies dressed. She must have been trying not to be seen if she came to him looking like that. Then he managed to see a large piece of wheeled luggage about five feet behind her as well as what looked to be a newspaper of some sort under her arm. He just hoped that she didn't come looking for what he thought she was looking for.

"Shuuhei, I need a favor."

"A favor? What exactly do you want?"

"Can I just come in and explain it? I don't want to stand out here and talk about this," she replied in a softer than normal tone. Something was definitely wrong, but Shuuhei had no clue what exactly it could be. There was a part of him wondering if this was some kind of trap. Not that it mattered. He always stepped into her traps, conscious of them or not.

"Yeah, sure," he mumbled, opening the door further to let her walk in. She gracefully stepped out of her heels and set her bag down in the entryway. Untying the belt of her trench coat and made her way to the couch in the center of the main living space. Sitting down, she grabbed the newspaper she has tucked under her arm, and tossed it on the coffee table in front of her.

She didn't say a word about the newspaper, and not having followed her immediately to the couch, he had to take a few quick paces to be able to see what was potentially the issue at hand. There it was. The headline splashed in big, bold characters across the tabloid.

GRAVURE IDOL FORMER DELIVERY HEALTH* WORKER?

"They found out," she replied casually.

~ to be continued

notes:

* delivery health is essentially a call girl/escort. Health has a tendency to be used as a keyword for sexual pleasure in mizu shobai/red light areas. This is actually perfectly legal in Japan, so long as there's no vaginal intercourse. These companies work on the basis of fliers that advertise girls, much like ones some may be familiar with seeing in Las Vegas.

Renji calls Byakuya, Kuchiki-sachou, which would be what one would call a company's president. The chou on the end is the same character as the one used in the familiar taichou and means leader.

As always, reviews are love._  
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	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and those who put my story on their alerts. I hope you all continue to read, even with my sporadic updating. This chapter is much shorter than the last one. It was a story flow choice, mostly, since for a few chapters, we'll be alternating between main storyline and flashback. I have most of the plot of this story worked out in my head, it's just getting it out that's such a hassle sometimes.

Also, anyone who read the first chapter when it was initially put up, it would be good to go back and read the last few paragraphs. I did a revision about a week after it was posted to add a little bit more onto the end, so we go right into a flashback this chapter, instead of having an awkward bit at the start in the present.  
Thanks to codegal for her beta on this one.

Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite, Shueisha, etc.

* * *

Always One Foot on the Ground  
chapter 2

They were the only ones left of the initial group in the bar. The bar itself was still quite lively, but they were the only ones left still drowning their sorrows and drunkenly cursing those who'd gotten them to that point. Kira would probably still have been there had he not stumbled after a weeping Momo; Rukia had drunk dialed Renji, and he had come down to get her before she did the same to her brother, who didn't appreciate such calls.

"You know, Shuu-chan," she said, trying to steadily pour a drink for the man next to her. "I think," she said in a drawn out manner, "that you should stop being so sad about this."

"So I should be happy? I didn't know being betrayed by a mentor could make anyone happy."

They'd all arrived at work for another Thursday morning to see that their building had been besieged by police officers and what looked to be federal agents. The workers and many other onlookers gathered outside to catch a glimpse of the action. Shuuhei had arrived early, as usual, and was standing near Kira when he caught a glimpse of some people coming out of the building. There were three men, each handcuffed and being lead outside by two police officers. They weren't random workers, either. The trio was Sousuke Aizen, the magazine's publisher, Gin Ichimaru, associate publisher, and Kaname Tousen, Shuuhei's direct boss and editor in chief.

What had originally been another ordinary day at work had turned into nothing short of an ordeal. With the magazine's management arrested for charges that had yet to be revealed to anyone, much to the ire of the media, the office was in virtual chaos. By lunch, it was announced that the month's issue was going to be cancelled, though that, however, hadn't put Shuuhei or any of his friends at ease. Momo had been a secretary who worked under Aizen, Kira had been Gin's executive assistant and while Rukia had been an executive in the advertising department, she'd worked closely with all three men and had greatly enjoyed working with them. Rangiku had simply been an office lady who'd only been hired a few months prior, though her relationship with Gin had been the talk of the office ever since her arrival. Their connections to the three men had definitely affected them.

For Shuuhei, Tousen was the reason he'd stayed at the magazine. He'd graduated top of his class at his prestigious college, winning literary awards before he'd even graduated. He had been the buzz of the literary community during those years, and his decision to work at a magazine had come as quite a shock to both fans of his short stories and himself. While in college, Shuuhei had imagined graduating and writing his first novel, but the opportunity to work under Kaname Tousen, whose previous short works and articles he'd enjoyed since he was a teen, was too good to pass up. Maybe it was detrimental to his career, but he'd willingly accept it to work with one of his adolescent idols. After a year, he grew to love the magazine as if it were his as well. As the fiction editor, he enjoying searching out new talent to publish. Now that that had all gone up in smoke, he was left with so many questions, and very few answers.

"Of course being betrayed shouldn't make you happy, but you gotta stop dwelling so much in what's happening right now. It's a shitty thing to have happened, but so what? Moping about it is not going to get you anywhere."

"But that's a hell of a lot easier said than done," he replied, finishing his statement by downing the sake that she had just poured him. She didn't say anything back, just simply looked at him with a grim expression, one that he wasn't quite sure how to interpret. That was the first time that he'd suspected that there was something in Rangiku that she kept locked away.

Realizing the downhearted turn in the conversation, Rangiku quickly smiled and cheerfully poured him another glass of sake. "I thought you said that I should stop being so sad. Sake isn't going to help me be happier; did you miss Momo running out of here in drunken tears?"

"The sake is for a release, not to make you sad. We're going to keep drinking tonight, so you can get it out of your system. Plus, I happened to notice that you were pacing yourself earlier, so you need to catch up so I don't feel like such a lush."

He could feel the slightest bit of a smile creep up on his lips for the first time in almost a week. It was moments like this that had caused him to develop an intense crush on the woman. She probably knew he was hopelessly in love with her, but he didn't care. He'd never met a woman like her and was quite inexperienced at handling his feelings when it came to being in a one-sided situation.

They went through another two bottles of sake apiece, and by that time, they were both hopelessly drunk. Thankfully, as they finished the last bottle, the bartender had made the last call.

"Shuuuuu~~chan," Rangiku said rather loudly. "Time to leave."

He couldn't say that he was exactly fond of the fact that she called him Shuu-chan when she got a little tipsy. Hearing her say it so loudly in a public place certainly felt a little emasculating. It made him feel as if he was just another one of the girls to her, but there wasn't much time to dwell on that. Now the two had to get out of the bar and into a cab, making sure they didn't seem too drunk since most cabbies didn't really like vomit in their car and usually hesitated with picking up drunks.

Shuuhei had stumbled to the door first, holding it open for Rangiku. She walked through quite gracefully, which amazed him, since he figured her being drunk and wearing stilettos would be a disastrous combination. Letting the door go behind him, he felt a pull at his arm as he began to walk on ahead of her, turning to look only to see that she'd linked her arm with his.

"You look like you need help walking straight," she said as she observed his confusion at her gesture. They continued on to the corner, where he tried to hail a cab. Naturally, as a drunken man, he didn't really fare well. It wasn't until she took over, holding her arm out while leaning over with her low cut top that they were successful.

They sat at a stoplight only a few blocks from her place in total silence. In fact, most of the cab ride had been silent. The long night and the silence combined with the soothing movement of the car had caused Rangiku to nod off just slightly. She sighed and let her head rest on Shuuhei's shoulder, which took him by surprise and caused him to tense. To relax, he took a deep breath, only to get a very keen whiff of her perfume. He didn't remember smelling it earlier though the small confines of the cab must have made it easier to pick up.

Being in close proximity to her, he couldn't help but think that she smelled amazing. He gave a wry grin. Way to get yourself even more infatuated.

Rangiku woke when the cab jerked to a stop at a light.

"You'll be okay, Shuu-chan. If I could pick myself up from having to do delivery health, then you'll be okay too," she said, the cadence of her voice quite obvious that she was far from sober, despite her display of good balance walking to and from the cab. Being drunk himself, he didn't quite pick up on what she'd just told him. It wasn't until he was walking back to the waiting cab, trying not to stumble over his feet now that he was on his own, did he grasp the meaning of her words.

Delivery health? Delivery health as in being paid to go to a man's house or a love hotel and pretty much have sex with him? Sure, she was a very well endowed woman and wasn't very shy about it, but that didn't make her that type of woman. At least, she didn't come off as that type to him.

Thankfully, he was drunk enough when he got home that falling asleep wasn't going to be a problem, not to mention, the added fact of being away from Rangiku's somewhat boisterous personality also helped. However, it did somewhat register with him that Monday at work was bound to be awkward. Despite the situation, they'd asked everyone to take the rest of the week off and come back in the new week.

Hopefully she wouldn't remember telling him that.

* * *

He usually saw Rangiku around the office quite often as his office was in the path of her usual route from her main office, which she shared with the brigade of other office ladies, to the copy machine. Once they'd gotten to know each other, she often used trips to the copier as an excuse to slip away from her job and all the other women she worked with to talk to him. After awhile, it had become less about her talking, and more about him venting about his job while she listened and sporadically gave advice. Naturally, these trips of hers soon became the highlight if his day.

However, he hadn't seen her pass his office all morning and it was almost lunch time. It was pretty obvious to him that she was avoiding him, which meant that she definitely remembered what she'd told him. The thought of her avoiding him for who knows how long didn't sit well with him, especially now that he had so many questions he wanted to ask. Though he figured he probably wouldn't have the nerve to ask even if he did have the chance to talk to her again. He wasn't even sure of what to say if she confronted him about it.

Lunch passed, (he ate in his office on the off chance that she'd come by), and he went to his afternoon features meeting still without having seen her. After an exhausting meeting, he returned to his office, heaving a sigh of frustration, and hoping that the day would just end so he could go home for a brief respite before starting the cycle over again. As he opened the door, he was shocked to see Rangiku sitting behind his desk.

"Have those old hags been keeping you busy?" he asked, knowing very well that many of the senior office ladies did not like Rangiku and often sent her on silly errands.

"Do you remember what I told you last night when you were walking me to my door?"

Her directness caught him off guard. He debated for a few moments in his head whether or not he should tell her the truth. Maybe it would be better for her to think that he didn't remember than having to talk about something that she was obviously not very proud of.

"Yeah," he replied, his voice cracking ever so slightly. He figured he should be honest with her, even if it could hurt her. "I remember."

"Of course," she said with a dry laugh. "You haven't told anyone, have you?"

"Do you think I'd do that?"

"No," she replied letting out a long breath. "I've never really told anyone, so I think I've been preparing myself for the worst when I did actually tell someone."

"You don't need to worry. I won't tell anyone," he replied plainly.

He never was the best when it came to reading people's expressions, especially when they were clearly trying to mask their emotions, but as he looked at Rangiku, he could have sworn that he saw a bit of relief in her sky blue eyes.

She got up from his chair and went to leave his office, but stopped just short of the door. She turned to him, hesitating to speak.

"And just so you know, I never really wanted to do any of that. When I was younger, I naively got myself into a situation I thought would be a dream. It was just too good to be true, and that's where that got me."

_Please, don't let this change your opinion of me._

She couldn't bring herself to say it, nor did she really know why his opinion of her mattered so much to her. It never seemed like it did before, but she found herself walking out of that office, hoping that their friendship wouldn't be hurt or strained.

* * *

As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

It feels strange to be finally updating this. This chapter was a particularly hard one for me, because it's that part of the action that gets things starting. Just as a warning, the next chapter may cause the rating of this fic to go up.

Again thanks to all those who've reviewed, fav-ed, and put this on their alert list.  
As always, Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite, Shueisha, and some other people, just not me.

**Always One Foot on the Ground  
**chapter 3

"So why exactly are you coming to me with all your bags? I'd think that after this kind of story breaks that you'd be in some hotel room with your managers keeping watch," he said sitting down in a chair that sat adjacent to the sofa she was currently on.

"I don't want to deal with that right now. I know I'll have to, but I just need some room to think for now."

"And why come here?" he asked with an almost hostile tone. He'd spent his past weeks mustering up the courage to just be able to get over her, and, yet again, she comes swooping back into his life just as he was starting to allow himself to let go. This time it wasn't just a dance at a wedding. There was much more potential in this situation, potential that Shuuhei wasn't sure about.

"I can't go into hiding on my own. Everyone's out looking for me, so I'm pretty sure that it would only be a matter of time before I was discovered just at some hotel. I don't know if the people I know now would be willing to help after learning about this…without selling me out," she said, clearly not happy to admit that most her friends now would likely call a tabloid than actually help her. "Other than you and Orihime, no one else knew about this before now. At least, you're the only two I can go to now. Orihime just got back from her honeymoon, and the last thing I want is for her to have to deal with this. That just leaves you."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Even if they were on shaky terms, he still cared very much for her. Even if he were over her, he would always care about her well-being. He was sympathetic to her situation, but, at the same time, it felt strange to have her be so close if he agreed to let her stay. They had a very excellent physical chemistry, and it would be hard for him to suppress that. Not to mention, it would just be awkward.

"How long do you need to stay here for?"

"I think it would be just today and through the weekend."

Shuuhei cursed to himself. It was Friday, wasn't it? Had this happened during the week, it would be easy to avoid her by staying at the office until 8 or 9, which wasn't very unusual for him in the first place. Still, if she needed his help, when she would be staying over should really make that much of a difference in his decision.

"Okay, but I don't really have much food around. There's some instant curry, some Vienna sausages, maybe a few eggs, and rice, but that's probably about it when it comes to a meal." She smiled slightly, relieved that he was indeed willing to help her. Before she could say anything, Shuuhei's phone rang. The conversation was short, and he put his phone back into his suit pocket when he finished. "My car is waiting for me outside. I need to get to work, and today is probably going to be a late night for me."

With nothing else said between them, he quickly left, not stopping until he got to the black sedan that was waiting for him.

Work has always been a welcome distraction for Shuuhei. Part of the reason he'd gotten the position of editor-in-chief was because he buried his worries in work. The higher ups saw it as a studious dedication to the field and to the publication. They didn't care why he always there. All they knew was the he was almost always the last one to leave in the evening.

It wasn't that he didn't love what he did. He very much loved his job. That probably helped the situation a great deal.

Shortly after walking into his office and sitting down, Momo scurried in for her usual rundown of the day's schedule.

"Today's a busy one, Hisagi-san. Ichigo Kurosaki is coming in this morning for a meeting about another short fiction feature. Then there's the mid-morning run through, and we should have every department ready for that. For lunch, you'll be meeting with Isane-san about the re-design and hiring a new art director or two to help with that. After that, Kojima-kun, the photographer for the cover feature, will be coming in along with the creative director to talk about options for the shoot next week. Kunida-san will also be coming in for that, since she conducted the interview last week, so you'll be going over that with her as well. The end of the day, we have a conference call squeezed in with the publishing board about the progress on the redesign and re-brand."

"When is Kurosaki coming in?" Shuuhei asked, unbuttoning his suit jacket.

"Actually, he's already here. The meeting was made for 8:30 so you could get it in before most people would come in, and it's quarter after nine now. He was waiting in your office, but he went out talking on his cellphone about ten minutes ago. I think it was Orihime-chan calling."

"And how did you figure that out?" he asked with a smirk.

"It's pretty easy to see," Momo said, giggling softly. "But it sounded like Orihime-chan was worrying about something. He seemed a little stressed out by it all."

Shuuhei wondered if the call had anything to do with Rangiku. He knew that Orihime, and maybe Ichigo knew about her past, but seeing as Rangiku went to his place, he had to wonder if she'd even contacted Orihime at all. It wouldn't surprise him if she didn't.

"If you see him, wave him in. I'll be waiting."

"Certainly," Momo replied with her usual cheery tone. "I'll also get a pot of coffee ready." As she left, he could see Ichigo off in the distance, wandering around the halls while talking on his phone. His pacing confirmed Momo's suspicions as well as his own. Maybe it was a good thing that they were meeting after all.

"Was that Orihime-chan on the phone?" Shuuhei asked after greeting the younger man, who had made his way back to the office when his call was finished.

"Uh, yeah, it was," Ichigo replied, a little confused as to why he was being asked who was calling and hoping that Shuuhei wasn't mad that he wasn't available when he came in. "Why do you ask?"

"Does it have anything to do with the news about Rangiku?"

"Kinda," he replied, hesitating slightly at the older man's question. He had to wonder why that would be the conclusion, since Shuuhei didn't seem like the type that bothered with celebrity scandals. How exactly did he know to ask about that? "She's just worried because she can't get a hold of her. She was just kind of expecting to hear from her this morning. I just figured she was sleeping in, like always, but Orihime tried to call her a few times before I left and it went straight to voicemail. Now, I guess she's been calling her managers, and they haven't heard anything either."

"Call her back and tell that she has nothing to worry about. Rangiku's at my place."

"Oh, okay," Ichigo replied, reaching for his phone, taken aback a bit by the older man's blunt admission. This was certainly a moment that he didn't plan on getting trapped in when he left for the meeting this morning. He had been nervous, but it was more about what kind of feedback he was going to get on his new featured story from the editor who got him the feature and not relaying messages to his wife from her adoptive older sister's ex-boyfriend. It was definitely not what he'd imagined would happen when he walked out the door this morning. "Hello? Orihime, I–"

"You don't need to worry about me, Ichigo-kun. I haven't found her yet, but you have your meeting. I can talk to you when you're done," she said, cutting him off before he could explain the situation.

"I am at my meeting, but Hisagi-san told me to call you and let you know that Rangiku's at his place."

"Now is not the time to be joking, Ichigo-kun," she said in the most stern voice she could muster.

"I'm not joking, that's what he said," he replied defensively.

Hearing Ichigo's reply, Shuuhei motioned to the younger man to give him the phone. It looked like he was going to have to explain everything after all.

"He's not lying Orihime-chan. Rangiku came over this morning, asking to stay for the weekend, so I assume that she's going to be there until Sunday."

There was a bit of silence over the phone for a few moments, and he wasn't exactly sure how to interpret it. He was thinking he'd hear her rambling on about how happy she was to know where her surrogate sister was and that she was okay.

"So how is she?" The question was soft and almost unsure.

"I think I'd be one of the last people to be able to answer that," he replied. "You know Rangiku better than I do. She'd never let us know that she was more than just shaken."

"I kinda figured it would be like that. I wasn't really all that surprised when I couldn't contact her." Shuuhei sighed as he listened to the young woman, she seemed to be slowly easing the tension in her voice he heard when she first spoke. "But I'm happy to know that she's okay. Hearing that she's at your place for the weekend makes me even more relieved. I know you'll take really good care of her."

It was one thing for him to think about his feelings for the voluptuous blond, but it was another to hear someone else relay the obvious back to him, as if he actually thought that he was any good at holding back his feelings. The way Orihime had said it that made it seem like that much was a given.

"Things are a little hectic around here, so she may just end up sitting around my place alone," he said in an attempt to play off Orihime's last comment. "Maybe it would be a good idea for you to go visit her."

"Really? You're okay with having me there?"

"It's fine, Orihime-chan. Do you remember where it is?"

"Um, I think so. I just need to get to the Omotesando station, and Hisagi-san is in the big white building, and if I reached Dior and Chanel, I've gone too far*…Rangiku-san taught me that when she first was seeing you," she admitted with a laugh.

"It figures that would be how she remembers it," he deadpanned. "All you need to do is enter 2757, then the pound sign on the keypad next to the big door in the entryway. That'll get you in to the building. My place is on the top floor, number 810."

"Thank you, Hisagi-san. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. I know she'll be happy to see you."

"Yes, well, I should probably let you get back to you meeting."

"I think Ichigo would appreciate that. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Hisagi-san!" the younger girl finished cheerily. Shutting the phone, Shuuhei handed it back to Ichigo.

"I hope you don't mind me telling her to visit."

"No, it's fine. It'll be good for both of them," Ichigo awkwardly replied as he put his phone back in the inner pocket of his blazer. He'd initially been nervous about the meeting, now he was just praying for the actual discussion about what he'd been working on for over a month to start.

"Good. Well, I guess we can finally get down to talking about what I called you in for."

Rangiku was having a hard time passing the time alone at Shuuhei's apartment. Her first thought was to watch some TV, but pretty much all the morning talk shows were talking about her at some point in the program. She decided to put in a movie, hoping it would distract her, but soon lost interest in watching it. Shuuhei's movie collection didn't interest her much in the first place.

Instead, she found herself wandering around the place, which was rather roomy by at least Tokyo standards. Even with the open space that was available, she found herself almost instinctively heading towards the main bedroom. She had fond memories in his room, most of which were made in the bed. It was for that reason that the first thing she did when she entered the room was to sit on the messily made bed. After a few seconds of sitting, she felt her body slowly sink down onto the mattress until she was lying sideways across his bed. As she lie there, she could feel the scent that permeated the apartment, _his scent_, intensify.

A knock at the door startled her from her daze. She knew better than to go answer the door, but her curiosity couldn't keep her from tiptoeing over and looking through the peephole to see who it was. Hopefully no one had seen her walking to the building, but she quickly shook that thought. It had to be someone that knew how to get into the building without having a pass-code.

She peered through peephole to see a very familiar face. Excited, she flung open the door and pulled the girl inside quickly, making sure to shut the door swiftly behind her.

"Orihime!" the older woman exclaimed as she enthusiastically hugged the younger girl. "I hope you're not mad that I haven't called you."

"It's okay," Orihime replied, trying to loosen the hug just a little. "I'm just glad that I was able to find out where you were, and that Hisagi-san was nice enough to suggest that I come over."

"He didn't call you, did he?" Rangiku asked, pulling out of the hug, yet still keeping her hands firm on smaller girl's shoulders. Orihime could tell by her expression that she didn't want that to be true.

"Oh no, not at all! I don't think he's the type to be that bold. Ichigo-kun just had a meeting with Hisagi-san this morning, and I was on the phone with him because I was worried about you. I guess Hisagi-san figured out that I was the person Ichigo-kun was on the phone with, and that's when he told me not to worry, because you were here. Then he said he'd be busy all day, so maybe it would be good for me to come over and keep you company. That's all."

Rangiku had to admit that sounded much more like Shuuhei than the idea that he would go out of his way to call Orihime and tell her to go over to his place. "So, how are you doing?"

Rangiku only offered a grim smile in response. What else was she supposed to do or say?

"I don't really know," she sighed.

"I guess that much is expected, huh?" Orihime said softly.

The tension in the room was still quite thick. In Orihime's younger years, Rangiku was the one to console her about her problems. She couldn't really remember an occasion where it was Rangiku that needed her help, and now, without much experience, Orihime wasn't exactly sure how to go about the situation.

"Well, surely, it's not the end of your career," Orihime said, as she lead Rangiku to sit on the nearby couch with her. "There are actresses who used to be AV stars. I mean, the movies they make are a little steamy for normal movies, but this isn't going to stop you from doing what you've always wanted to do."

"But I wasn't an AV actress. It may not seem like there's much difference, but people consider what I had to do to be worse than being an AV idol."

"It's not like you had much of a choice about it. Maybe if you tell the truth and let people know how this happened, they'll be more understanding." Rangiku could almost feel herself smiling at the optimistic tone in the young woman's voice. It felt good to have at least one person wishing the best for you.

"I hope that's true. I just don't want my past make people only want one thing from me. If I wanted to be an AV idol, I would have done it by now. I'd be a pretty good one too," she said with a slight smirk. "Now, Hime-chan," she continued with a sly tone. "I haven't talked to you face to face since the morning you left on your honeymoon and the details you gave me on the phone are just not enough."

"Ah, Rangiku-nee, I can't talk about that," the younger girl said, her cheeks turning pink. She looked to see that Rangiku didn't have anything to say, but she had a very sly and very familiar grin. Before Orihime could say a word, Rangiku had pounced on her, tickling the younger girl. "Ran…giku-nee…still…not telling!" she tried to get in as she gasped for breath between bouts of laughter.

Even after a long day at work, Shuuhei was still aprehensive about returning to his apartment. He was hoping that Rangiku, in her current state, would be sleeping at this hour, but with his decision to invite Orihime over to keep her company, he highly doubted that was the case.

Opening the door, he immediately heard Orihime's embarrassed giggle, soon joined with Rangiku's chuckle. Part of him was annoyed that she was indeed still awake, but hearing her laugh like that made that annoyance melt away. He'd genuinely been worried about her for most of the day but still a little too reserved to call her to check up.

"Tadaima," Shuuhei said, almost timidly, as he removed his shoes. He wasn't used to saying the greeting since he usually came come to an empty apartment.

As he walked further inside, he could see Orihime and Rangiku sitting on his couch, the TV softly playing in the background. Rangiku noticed him out of the corner of her eye.

"You're home early, Shuuhei. I thought you said it was going to be a late night for you," she said, turning around on the couch to see him better.

"It was. It's quarter til nine right now."

"EH?" Shuuhei watched as Orihime went from laughing to frenzied in a matter of seconds. She was muttering about losing track of time and hoping that she wouldn't be coming home to an upset husband. "Rangiku-nee, sorry, but I really need to go," she said giving Rangiku a rushed hug. "Just call me if anything else happens. And Hisagi-san," she said pausing in front of him. "Thank you so much for letting me come over."

"No problem, Orhime-chan. It's getting late, I can walk you to the station."

"I'll be fine. You're so close to Omotesanto-dori. I've imposed enough already, and I can't imagine there being any trouble on such a busy street. I'll just call Ichigo-kun and have him meet me at the station so we can walk home. Thank you so much for everything. Take good care of Rangiku-nee this weekend."

With that, Orihime was gone, leaving them together, alone.

*Omotesando is a main road in Tokyo, and is known for having many of Tokyo's designer boutiques. I kinda based where he lives on Omotesanto Hills, which is a big complex of shops and (gorgeous) apartments. I figure since Shuuhei's always had a pretty decent position, and is now an editor-in-chief, at a popular magazine that he could afford it. And it is less than a block (and across the street) from Chanel and Dior stores.


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